I have updated three charts I posted previously showing initial claims for unemployment insurance by sector to include data for the week of March 29 to April 4. The first chart shows initial claims sector as a proportion of the sector’s employment in February:

Accommodation and Food Services; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation; and Construction remain the three sectors with the greatest number of claims relative to February employment.

The second chart is a scatter plot with claims as a share of February employment measured along the vertical axis and sectors’ the average weekly wages in 2018 (the most recent year for which the average wage is available) is measured along the horizontal axis:

Low wage sectors have had relatively more layoffs than high wage sectors. The correlation coefficient between claims as a share of employment and average wage is -.657.

The third chart shows each industry’s claims over the March 1 to April 4 period as a share of total claims over the period:

Accommodation and Food Services ranks first, Construction ranks second, and Health and Social Services ranks third.